The Marbhré
An ancient Irish Coven of Sanguine Vampires. Pureblood & Sired alike. Celtic in Tradition. Pagan by faith. Matriarchal, Nomadic, Blood thirsty & practises of the Dark and Black magik. Vampire's very rarely make any appearance in Celtic/Gaelic Folklore and so it is no surprise that the Marbhré who have traversed all of their home country; Ireland, have been undisturbed and ignored by mortals for the most of their existence... That is up until the 21st century when Mythicals came 'out of the closet' and the Mythical War begun. Now they reside in peace again, and are about to step out of the shadows and make themselves known within the Mythical world once more, as many believe their old Coven to be extinct. The Marbhré The meaning of Marbhré loosely translates to 'The Bloody Dead', although the coven do not use this name themselves, over the years they have been described as such by man-kind; due to mortals having the fascination of naming everything under the heavens. The Coven of the Bloody Dead~ Mháthair fola... The founder of this ancient Coven is unknown, though they believe that their shared ancestor was undoubtedly female, and so they call her; Mháthair fola' ''- 'Mother of Blood.' The Coven remains to be Matriarchal in it's hierarchy to this day, and it is also not like many of the other large Covens around the world in the way that it is not predominantly made up of Pure-blood vampires of Noble birth. The sired and the born are both welcomed into it's circle. There is no one leader of the Coven but the four elders' of the Coven which take point of commanding the rest of their circle. The Elders of the cover are born of the four families which are descended from the first four Celtic women their shared ancestor sired. Sired female vampires are after-all still able to bare children if mated with a pureblood male vampire. (sired male vampires are sterile.) '''The Place they call Home ''~ They wander here, they wander there...'' The lands of County Waterford in Munster, Republic of Ireland, is where the Coven makes it's main home. There is a large and old house, plain and uninteresting on a street like any other and this is where they all gather when there is need of a meeting. However most of the time they band together in small groups and travel about all of Ireland, Wales, England and even venture into Scotland and further to Norway to live and hunt from day to day. Every family gathering however and religious festival is celebrated at their communal home of Comeragh House - (Named so as it is built out of the stone of the Comeragh Mountain range which is situated in the County.) The Four Houses ~ ''Four Pillars to suport a Great Coven... '' Over the many years that the Coven has been banded together, and as new generation after generation has been born, the families that belong to the coven have grown and dwindled with the times. Names have changed, modernized, but the roots remain. The four families born of the common accestor are as follows: CONNOLLY - Anglicized form of Irish Ó Conghalaigh, Meaning "descendant of Conghalach". Conghalach is a nickname meaning "valiant". This branch of the Coven are commonly light brown or blonde of hair, with brown eyes and a pale and clear complexion. As for their overall nature they're lively, friendly, often humorous and the life of the party. Many are in the warrior ranks or are have a talent in something physical in nature. DEMPSEY - Anglicized form of Irish Ó Díomasaigh. Meaning "descendant of Díomasach". Agiven name meaning "proud". The Dempsey's are blessed with beauty; wavy raven locks and eyes of blue and proud of it, befitting to the meaning of their name. Seducers; musical, poetic and artistic. Vanity is not a virtue, though this family does well to convince one otherwise. Kindness ever flows through them and so they get on well with all of their coven sistren. HEFFERNAN - From Irish Ó hIfearnáin. Meaning "descendant of Ifearnán". The byname Ifearnán means "little demon". Cunning and charming with green eyes, are the Herrernan's. Hair a color of whatever it so chooses, though rarely blonde. Like their hair their personalities differ the most throughout this house, though all of them tend to be selfish and live to gratify themselves first before others. Never trust a Heffernan unless you've something to offer them in return. Kean politicians and business folk do this bloodline make. They isolate themselves from the other three families for most of the year, save for on Coven occasions. ROWAN - Anglicized form of Ó Ruadháin. Descendant of Ruadhán which is the diminutive of Ruadh. Gaelic byname meaning "red", often a nickname for one with red hair. Green or brown eyes are common with those of Red hair, and so that it was way for the Rowan's. By far the most firey, and passionate of the four family branches, they throw themselves head first into anything they pursue and thrive in almost any walk of life. They can be somewhat bloodthristy though like the Connolly's. A hunting party is usually lead by members of these two families. All the families have intermingled here and there throughout the ages, interbreeding the coven makes for a healthy gene-pool. When new blood is brought in, in the way of a sired female it is persuaded that their offspring breed into all four families so as to ensure their bloodline is truly mixed and taken into the fold of the Coven. The parentage of each children born in this coven is charted by the Elders to ensure no unhealthy inbreeding takes place...Many vamperic Covens have fallen to the hereditary sicknesses brought about by incestuous breeding and this Coven heed the warning. The Matriarchal Leaders Iona Connolly ~ Leader of Coven's Law Enforcement. True to her Families characteristics Iona is physically adept and leads her band of fellow law enforcers excellently. Everyone respects her fair judgement, as she is quick to punish those who disobey Coven law. Somewhat of a warrior princess though; merely meaning she is adored by her father especially, as she often quarrelled with her mother before her passing. Iona is bold and lively, and rather forthright with her opinion, though she doesn't believe everything can be solved with violence. Mostly her job entails quelling petty crime within the Coven. She is happily married and is the mother of four children, an even split of two girls and two boys. Aibhilinn Dempsey ~ Coven Doctor & Healer. Always a secretive and introverted girl, Aibhilinn has studied under the Coven's previous healer for many years before taking over the mantle. A silent beauty with twinkly blue eyes and long raven locks like her mother Aibhlinn has a way with men and vows never to marry as long as there are men who desire her. Though she may look innocent on the exterior, beware for if she is angered she may use her skills in the ways of the Dark and Black magik to spite you. Darcy Eilish Heffernan ~ Clairvoyvant of the Coven & Religious Leader. Named Eilish by her parents when she was born, as she was a pretty and delicate girl; like an Alice doll, until she came to an age where she begun to display her true self. Always different and a seemingly disturbed child, at the age of seven Eilish was given the first name of Darcy instead. (Meaning descendant of the dark one.) With her mother being so fair in nature in objection to her families usual traits it shouldn't have surprised her when her daughter had taken on all of them on herself. A lonely child, she invested in herself and so was seen as selfish, and still is. Her strangeness manifested it's self as a gift upon her realizing she was clairvoyant and her dreams often came true. Now day's she is the Coven's religious leader and fits in more amongst her coven family and sisters. Though she is a hopeless romantic her gift frightens off men, and with good reason as she is also somewhat afraid of love as she has already prophecized that a year into having met her true love she will see his end in a future dream. 'Ryanne Mona Rowan ~ The Balance. ' A book worm forever burried in her studies; Ryanne has no given role in the Coven but she serves as a Mediator and advisor to her Coven Sisters. Ironically her middle name: Mona mean's giver of advise. Other than this she teaches both acedemic studies and music to any she can, both adult and child alike. Choosing to lead an uncomplicated life she shares a home with her long time lover and fledgling; Michael. The two are well suited and interested in the same things. Their only worry in life is that they'll never bare children... Coven Values As in many Vamperic Coven's the Marbhre abide by the rules deemed most important in Vampiric life: *Consorting against your Coven's leaders/elders is considered treason and is punishable by lashing, banishment or death. - This law is upheld above all in the Coven of the Marbhré, so as to show that the treat of punishment is real anyone, no matter their position or title, they are unbiased punished by lashing or more if future action is seen fit. *Breaking Coven alliances is to be beheaded by long sword or scythe. - As the Coven don't make many alliances, this law is there regardless of it being unnecessary. *Siring a mortal child is an absolute sin. De-fanging and cremation of the child fledgling is due punishment. - A law that is rumoured to have been bent or broken by this Coven particularly. *Killing mortals for blood sport - especially other mythical races is punishable by being hunted and torn limb from limb.- Again now that the mortal population is so small this law is a little obsolete, however this coven do often hunt fae-folk without care of the rate of mortality... *It is forbidden to bare children between siblings or first cousins. Given punishment of painless death to the offspring and castration of the father. - This is law is definitely upheld, the diversity of their genepool to this coven is sacred. As the Coven is essentially a family at it's heart there are a couple rules it keeps up to make living together easier; Above all, honesty, loyalty and faithfulness are valued. Being respectful to your elders, mother & father, sharing and being kind to siblings, cousins & friends is socially enforced. Not attending religious meetings is to be looked down upon. Category:Vampires Category:Covens Category:Mythical Houses